My family is in the market for a new folder at this time. I chose the Brompton as the first choice and the Dahon Piccolo as the second one. The trouble began as I decided to have my own LBS handle the shipment and we purchase the bike from him rather than using another bike shop to ship the Brompton directly to us as I always prefer to have someone I know and trust for many years check over my new bikes after the initial purchase. I know the Internet has opened up alot of drop shipping and moving of expensive packages all over the place. But I also strongly feel that I still want to stay local and support my bike shop of choice rather than running around whipping out my credit card to other shops with little thought to how much an actual important purchase a bike is and what becomes of it afterwards.

That is not to say I do not use mail order and the Internet for locating hard to find components and accessories for the bike(s) once I get them. I do and one of my bikes has special needs in that line since it is no longer manufactored. When the part arrives, either I or my sister attaches the new item to the bike ourself if it is simple to do or I have my favorite local bike shop do it for me and pay them do do so. But a complete bike is another matter. I want a professional I trust actually check it over.

I am learning alot about where bikes actually comes from ( it's not the cabbage patch or Santa). My bike shop wants me to find the distributor of the Brompton here in the US, rather than just another bike shop so they can better serve me and my bike needs. I will let all of you know what I decide to do in the weeks ahead. I can be very persistant when it comes to something I want-along with other family members.

If any of you in the forum has any knowledge of Bromptons and/or bike distribution in the US, please let me know. I will settle on a Piccolo, but I do have my heart on a Brompton. My bike shop wants to know about how the cables are routed on these bikes. He does not want to sell me a folding bike that has a poor history of prematurely kinked, snapped or frayed cables built into the design (he knows Dahons but I don't think he ever seen a Brompton. He does not want us to throw away our money on a bad bike).

Trophy bikes and Calhoun cycle on the east coast, Channell Wasson on the west coast. Channell, I know, is a U.S. distributor for sure. The two others stock and maintain Bromptons. The owner of Trophy bikes reads and responds to this forum occasionally.

Both Brompton brake and derailleur cables are unusual sizes - the heads are smaller than normal, so if they ever break, you're out of luck if you don't have spares. And if you get a B., be sure to have your LBS tighten and true the wheels - for many, broken spokes are the first thing many B. owners encounter, myself included. Also, make sure you purchase longer bolts so that your hinge clamps don't accidentally unscrew themselves and fall out - you'll need an 8mm size bolt, I believe, but I forget the length. If you want to use a saddle other than the B. original, don't forget to buy the saddle rail adapter as well. And get the front luggage carrier block - the Brompton open basket is amazingly useful and is my favorite part about the bike. Lastly, know the gearing range: the B. comes with a 50T chainring, but depending on how strong you are or how many hills you have, if you decide to increase or decrease the chairning size, you'll have to replace the whole crankset as the 50T chainring is permanently connected to the right-hand crank. No matter though - I think 165mm cranks feel better than the B.'s standard 170mm. All this info comes from experience owning an L6. Other than that, I have no opinions.

I wouldn't worry about Brompton spares, as rarely needed, but if nec they can be ordered at low cost and quickly from the UK eg St. John St.

This shop deals with Brompton and is based in NYC:
https://store.nycewheels.com/folding-bike.html

My 2 cents:

Wouldn't it behove your LBS to "find the distributor" themselves, if they want your business?
Seems kind of backward to me. I mean, the reason they want to deal with the distributor is better margins for them. If they want their share of the sale, they gotta do the leg work! I ran a business for years and this makes sense to me.

Respectfully, deal with whoever has it in stock. They earn your business by taking the risk of having what you want on their showroom floor - local or not.

BTW: both the Brompton and the Dahon are fine bikes. You're going to pay a premium for the Brommy on account of being make in the UK. It's worth it if folded size is of utmost importance. If you can live with a slightly bigger folded package, the Dahon would save you some $.

On the above note, tomarrow I will travel by train to a distant bike shop that carries Bromptons. I printed out the adivce I gathered here on this thread to futher help me in this final decision. I will be sure to keep all of you posted!

The distributor for Brompton is Brompton in the UK. They are don't take long to get in and they are able to ship to their US dealers very economically which helps keep the US prices reasonable. Brompton has historically been very careful about who they approve as US dealers so not just any LBS can order them in. I believe there are now about 20 US dealers. Their dealers can all be found on the Brompton Website.

*smacks forehead* Sorry wpflem! I forgot to mention SF Bikes!

Folder Fanatic: you can't go wrong with SF Bikes if you're looking for a Brompton dealer in the US.

Don't worry. I am here now and I want all of you to go to my new thread on what happened in Brompton Found! (Nothing Like I Was Expecting).

I would not buy a Brompton form the said LBS mentioned. If this man does not know about the product, why would you want to buy from him in the first place? He would have to learn on the job.

The Brompton company does not have a poor history of selling a poorly made bike. For the price you're paying, you're getting good quality.